THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Yeah, I know, all the underground electronic music junkies and performance art aficionados are going to claim that they've known about this NYC-based duo (Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner) before everyone else, but what will that get them?

For those not in-the-know, but hungering to be, Fischerspooner's well-timed debut disc earns a place for itself among the electro-clash releases of the past year or so, with its swelling synths and futuristic vocals. 'Sweetness' is an electronic sugar-rush and 'Emerge' could potentially have electro-heads coming out in droves.

'Horizon' brightens over the course of five minutes, like a post-clubbing sunrise, and 'Turn On' lives up to its name. A couple of hidden tracks (including a remix of 'Emerge') may give Fischerspooner an extended shelf-life in the clubs.

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Easily one of the most fascinating and entertaining, yet controversial, NYC club scene characters, Jonny McGovern's Gay Pimp is one to watch in the coming months. Released in 2001, his Dirty Gay Hits (www.gaypimp.com) disc draws on musical influences such as Britney, Christina, Backstreet Boys and N*Sync ('Dirty Gay Teen Pop Superstar') and Prince ('Dream Boi Cream Boi'), and tracks such as 'Hey Lil' Rave Boi,' 'The Wrong Fag To Fuck With,' and 'Lookin' Cute/Feelin' Cute,' will probably also appeal to those listening to both Felix da Housecat and the electro-clash groups.

The wicked funny and hot and sweaty 'Soccer Practice' deserves a spot on the Billboard dance music chart and on turntables in dance clubs everywhere. The recently released silly-as-it-is-sexy music video has the potential to blow MTV's TRL away.

+++++

In a dazzling display of balance, executed on a musical high-wire, The Burnside Project has found a way to accommodate the air space needed for essential beats while rocking out like nobody's business on The Network, The Circuits, The Streams, The Harmonies (Bar/None).

One of the first great surprises of 2003, this disc attempts to satisfy both the dance club and rock club camps, and as far as I can tell, succeed on both accounts. Along with an amazing line-up of guest artists (including l d beghtol of Magnetic Fields, Flare and Moth Wranglers renown), primary Burnside Project projector Richard Jankovich picks up where Soul Coughing left off, and gives the folks on the dance floor a reason to listen to more than the beats. 'He Never Knew The Benefits of Caffeine' insists that your body shake along with your hands, 'Cue The Pulse To Begin' and 'Repeat After Me' sound like they ran away from the most recent New Order disc to be with their true family, 'Assessing Your Performance' is where the shoe-gazers and the ravers meet, and 'Heavy Mettle' is lighter than you might think. 'Only Ordinary' is anything but, while all the scratching on 'Foreign Exchange' might make you itch.